Losses keep mounting at American Airlines

FORT WORTH, Texas >> The parent company of American Airlines told a bankruptcy court that it lost $619 million last month as revenue declined from January and failed to offset costs including fuel and labor.

Since filing for bankruptcy in late November, AMR Corp. has lost $1.76 billion including $663 million in expenses related to the Chapter 11 reorganization. That’s more than the $1.08 billion that the company lost in the first 11 months of last year.

AMR disclosed the February numbers in a filing Thursday in U.S. bankruptcy court in New York.

State honors 15 ‘green’ firms and agencies

The state recognized 15 companies and government agencies Friday for their environmentally friendly practices.

Among the recipients of the "Hawaii Green Business Awards" was a hotel that uses seawater for its cooling system, a restaurant that uses recycled construction materials in its flooring and a Hawaii island brewery that gets nearly half of its electricity from solar panels.

The Hawaii Green Business Awards Program is presented by the state Department of Health; the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism; the Honolulu Board of Water Supply; the City and County of Honolulu’s Environmental Services Recycling Office; and the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii. The program encourages businesses and organizations to implement efficiency measures, share information and support one another in operating in an environmentally sustainable manner.

For a list of winners, go to energy.hawaii.gov/newsmedia/pressmedia.

9 charities benefit from 9.2M HawaiianMiles

Hawaiian Airlines’ HawaiianMiles Charities program awarded 9.2 million miles to nine Hawaii nonprofit organizations in 2011, helping them to stretch their budgets and enhance their ability to reach those in need.

The donated miles could be used for 1,227 neighbor island flight tickets — enough to fill 10 of Hawaiian’s 123-seat B717 aircraft — or 460 tickets for flights between Hawaii and any of Hawaiian’s 10 mainland gateway cities.

HawaiianMiles Charities supports the work of designated Hawaii nonprofits by allowing Hawaiian’s frequent-flier members to donate all or a portion of their mileage into a special account managed on behalf of each organization by the airline. Hawaiian Airlines supports the member contributions by making annual matching gifts of up to 500,000 miles to each nonprofit. Of the 9.2 million miles awarded in 2011, HawaiianMiles members donated 5.9 million miles, and Hawaiian donated 3.3 million matching miles.

The Hawaii State Chapter of the American Red Cross received 2.2 million HawaiianMiles in 2011, the most of any program participant, with 1.7 million miles donated by members and 500,000 miles by Hawaiian.

Shriners Hospitals for Children in Honolulu received 1.6 million HawaiianMiles last year, 1.1 million miles in member donations and 500,000 miles from Hawaiian.

Eleven Hawaii nonprofit organizations are designated for participation in HawaiianMiles Charities this year: American Cancer Society; American Red Cross; Big Brothers Big Sisters of Honolulu; Blood Bank of Hawaii; Friends of Hokule‘a and Hawai‘iloa; HUGS; Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project; National Kidney Foundation; Read Aloud America; Shriners Hospitals; and Special Olympics.

Visit www.HawaiianAirlines.com/HawaiianMiles/donate-miles.

Whole Foods to stop sale of some seafood

ALBANY, N.Y. » Whole Foods Market said Friday that it will stop selling fish caught from depleted waters or through ecologically damaging methods, a move that comes as supermarkets nationwide try to make their seafood selections more sustainable.

Starting Earth Day, April 22, the natural and organic supermarket chain will no longer carry wild-caught seafood that is "red-rated," a color code that indicates it is either overfished or caught in a way that harms other species. The ratings are determined by the Blue Ocean Institute, an advocacy group, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California.

Among the seafood disappearing from Whole Foods shelves will be octopus, gray sole, skate, Atlantic halibut and Atlantic cod caught by trawls, which can destroy habitats. The company will stock sustainable replacements like cod caught on lines and halibut from the Pacific.

MasterCard, Visa warn of security breach

NEW YORK » MasterCard and Visa said Friday that they had notified issuers of its credit cards of a potential breach of the security of customer accounts. The companies did not say how many customers were affected.

Global Payments Inc., which processes credit card transactions for stores, said it had detected a breach of card data in early March. Breaches of card data can lead to identity theft and unauthorized charges.

Higher consumer spending brightens outlook

WASHINGTON » U.S. consumers boosted their spending in February by the most in seven months, raising expectations for stronger growth rates at the start of the year.

Consumer spending rose 0.8 percent last month, the Commerce Department said Friday. The biggest increase since July coincided with the best three-month hiring stretch in two years.

On the Move

Central Pacific Financial Corp., parent company of Central Pacific Bank, has appointed Lance Mizumoto as executive vice president and chief banking officer. He has been with the company since 2005.

The Queen’s Medical Center has named Dr. Scott D.M. Moon as medical director of radiation oncology operations. He has been the medical director for QMC’s department of radiation oncology since 2009.

Hawaii Youth Symphony has appointed Randy Wong as its new executive director. He has more than 10 years’ experience in arts administration, program development, community engagement and educational research with music institutions across the country, including as program director for Music-in-Education National Consortium.